Liverpool only made an approach for Jurgen Klopp to succeed Brendan Rodgers after he was sacked, according to the German's agent, despite chairman Tom Werner admitting the club had been watching the coach for "a long time."
Rodgers was dismissed as manager by the Reds last Sunday after the 1-1 draw against Everton, with Klopp then appointed the following Thursday.
Although it only took four days for Liverpool to make the change, Klopp's representative, Marc Kosicke, insists the club only acted after Rodgers had departed.
"The first call from Liverpool came after the dismissal as coach of Rodgers," Kosicke told Bild.
"Before Liverpool there were naturally quite a few inquiries. But Jurgen always asked me not to take it any further."
However, while Werner says Klopp was always on Liverpool's radar, he refused to go into details as to when the club first made an approach for the 48-year-old.
"We have learned to keep certain matters confidential," Werner is quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo.
"We had a meeting recently with Jurgen that he has talked about and I don't want to talk too much about these conversations.
"But we have thought about him for a long time and everyone who knows football knows he is an outstanding manager."
Meanwhile, Klopp has said he did not speak to Bayern Munich about succeeding coach Pep Guardiola before his arrival at Anfield.